All Blacks v Ireland part III - July 16 8.05am Ireland time

We let the pressure get to us in 2019. Players and coaches alike. We took our eye off the ball going into the 6Ns with too much of a focus on the RWC QF. And then when the wheels started to come off we panicked. Players started forcing things and making errors. Coaches started getting involved when they never had done before and just added to the pressure cooker environment.

One of the most important things Farrell seems to be doing is building confidence while also reducing pressure. And, while it may sound contradictory, then allowing us to deal with the pressure when it does come on all the better because it isn’t pressure on pressure. Spreading the load across the squad, creating a good environment, building a game plan that the lads actually enjoy. So much of that seems to be in direct response to what went wrong in 2019.

People keep talking about how our game got “figured out”. We never played a complicated game under Joe. Teams not figuring us out was not why we were so good in 2018. We were that good because we executed that game to a degree that other teams couldn’t cope with. Figuring us out was never a problem for opposition sides. Dealing with us was. And once our focus slipped in the 2019 6Ns and our performances dipped that just wasn’t the case any more. And then once the panic set in we just compounded it all.

If Farrell can get us to a RWC with the confidence and ability to deal with the pressure then that’s a large part of the job done. The other part is a game plan that is a winning one. And we have seen that we can put that together. This series has shown we can deal with the pressure. For me we look to be heading in the right direction. And that’s one that doesn’t focus on one tournament or series at the expense of others. And that’s exactly the right way to do things. After all, losing can become a habit.

Provincially and nationally, we seem to be more vulnerable to tight five power than the passing game given that our defence is so well organized. Many of our backs are not pacy by international standards but only Jordan got a chance to really expose that. As noted above, the upcoming SA-NZ games will be watched with great interest to see where they and we stand.

Haven’t seen it mentioned but a test series win without arguably you’re start wrong hooker and lineout caller, two players in Kelleher and Henderson who would be in the conversation for world class if not just the tier below is huge.

IF (big if) you can keep that first choice pack and subs fit, can’t see why you’d be afraid of any team come rwc time.

would like to see Bernie start at 6 and Ryan and henderson In second row against the boks in November

Ireland was extremely lucky to win the series…..they were lucky the AB were red carded in the second test….they were lucky there was confusion and Ardie couldn’t play for 50 minutes…they were lucky they weren’t red carded for exactly the same head butting offence in the third test….aaahhhh the luck of the Irish.

When Sexton went off in the first test it was like Ireland were playing with 14 players and lost badly….. they were rudderless…. Same with us in the second test plus a couple of yellows to boot….you can’t say the red card in the second wasn’t lucky for you when you look at what happened to you in the first test

Don't feed the bewildered......

They were lucky that Sexton went off injured in the first test. Losing him seemed to be directly responsible for our collapse in the second quarter which is why we lost that game. They were lucky that there were 6 occasions that we crossed the line and didn’t ground the ball in the first test. How often does that happen? They were lucky that Barrett didn’t see a card for his hit on POM. They were lucky that they didn’t see a yellow for repeated infringements before the 78th minute in the first test. They were lucky that a bad pass from Sexton was compounded by a poor decision to pass from Ringrose and that was then further compounded by Lowe slipping allowing for the intercept try in the first test.

Luck played a big part in their first test win. Luck played a big part in our second test win. In close games luck will play a big part. We’ve seen contacts like Porter given as a yellow before so while we got lucky that it wasn’t a red you could also say NZ got lucky if it had been a red. As I said before, if you look at how that luck balanced out over the course of the series it was probably even enough.

Ireland played the better rugby over all and the first half of the third test was the best 40 minutes in Irish history. For teams to beat NZ they have to be at their very best and they were. They are now calling for Fosters head which is totally unfair and wrong. Even so I would like to see Razor Robertson move into the job now and bring in new blood to the team.

I thought yellow for Porter was absolutely the right call from Barnes. Porter didn't try a dominant 'hit'. A high proportion of the force was coming from the ball carrier. It was a bit like that time Danny Cipriani got red-carded because Rory Scannell ran into his shoulder with his head. That call was just flat out wrong, for me. It was a fairly passive action from Cipriani.

Where Ireland were a bit lucky is with Aki not getting scrutinised for his counter-ruck effort on Tu'ungafasi. As far as I can see the only thing that would make that not be a red is that from the available camera angles it might not be completely clear and obvious where he makes contact. I think Aki can be really good - the NZ commentators were impressed with how he dovetailed with Sexton in attack - but there's always this danger of a red card looming over him.

Let's not overlook the fairly obvious tip tackle on JVF early in the game while he was being cleared out of a ruck. I've seen yellows given for them more often than not but it wasn't brought to Barnes attention by the TMO. I also think Savea was blessed not to get a yellow for picking that ball up from a ruck on his own 2 metre line. Whether he thought it was out or not is immaterial and I've seen Barnes give cards for those types of infringements before. Especially in those types of situations.

Overall, I thought Barnes had a very good game and let both teams get on with their business. He certainly wasn't the winning or losing of that game for either team.

We'll never know really.

We'll never know really.